Today, April 19th in 1775 was the start of military engagements between American colonial troops and the British. The Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts started the Revolutionary War for the USA with the "shot heard around the world".
The logo of Miami's New World Symphony is discussed by Michael Bierut in this video from The Atlantic Magazine. The symphony moved into a new building designed by Frank Gehry, and Michael tells us how Gehry's drawings and the movement of a conductor's baton developed into the logo.
Also of related interest on The Atlantic website are a 13 more stories on how the creative spark of ideas comes about titled "How Genius Works". Included are stories of Chuck Close, Paul Simon, Tim Burton, and Frank Gehry among other.
You will totally enjoy this funny and informative TED talk by Morgan Spurlock. Morgan talks about advertising and marketing also with his new film that is coming out. Sit back and enjoy another great TED video.
On April 12, 1861, President Lincoln was having his watch repaired. This day also marked the start of the Civil War. When the watchmaker Jonathan Dillon heard of this momentous event, he inscribed a message into Lincoln's pocket watch as he repaired it. The story of the inscription was passed down over the years in the Dillon family but was never confirmed until the Smithsonian's National Museum of America History decided to open Lincoln's pocket watch. Watch the video above and see how history was discovered nearly 150 years later and read the blog post at the great O Say Can You See?
The American Civil War started at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.
Decades of growing strife between North and South erupted in civil war on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery opened fire on this Federal fort in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter surrendered 34 hours later. Union forces would try for nearly four years to take it back.
The USPS also has issued two stamps to mark this anniversary of the Civil War. A big thumbs up to the USPS for moving to the "First Class Forever" stamps. I am still looking around for 2 cent stamps from the last postage increase.
Today marks 50 years since a man first went into space. On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin took off aboard the Vostok 3KA-3 rocket and became the first man to enter space and to orbit the earth. The USSR made it to space first.
The USSR was proud of their state and its accomplishments such as Yuri's trip to space. The Soviet era brought about a great period of poster/propaganda art. This design style has become symbolic of the times and was inspired by the times. To read further on Soviet Art check out this link.
To promote the photographer, Paul Thompson, a creative ad campaign was produced describing his photos only in words and a 1000 words only. You see, a photo is worth a thousand words. Read the complete story at Creative Review UK and see Paul Thompson's work at his website.
